Live Report: LOST SOCIETY At Camden Underworld, London (27th January 2014)

It’s not often that a bunch of teenage thrashers from Finland get to show their wares outside the confines of their motherland. Lost Society struck it lucky.

Aged just 17 to 19, after winning the Finnish leg of Global Battle of the Bands and performing in the finals in London in December 2012, Nuclear Blast were quick to snap the band up.

The debut album ‘Fast Loud Death’ gained the nod of approval from various metal publications and sported cover artwork by none other than Ed Repka, harking back to Repka’s classic art that graced the covers of the likes of Megadeth, Venom and Death in the eighties.

Attendance for the guys’ set supporting Suicidal Angels in the basement venue of the Underworld is poor, but don’t let the numbers fool you – it doesn’t take long for these long haired rascals to whip up a frenzy down the front of the stage.

The half-hour set consists of tracks from the first album, including the inanely titled ditties ‘Braindead Metalhead’ and ‘Diary of a Thrashman’. The band have been called ‘retro-thrash’, so influenced by eighties’ classic thrash bands they sound, but the songwriting is nowhere near to the level of their forefathers – at least not yet.

However, if the album left you undecided, Lost Society really come alive in a, errrm, live setting. The band exude an enormous amount of energy and no-one in the crowd is left unaffected. Halfway through the set frontman Samy Elbanna shouts he wants to see a circle pit down in the crowd and although the numbers tonight may be small, nearly every single thrash fan on the floor continues to obey the diminutive Finn.

‘Thrash All Over You’ and ‘Fatal Anoxia’ sees the young metallers perform some synchronised headbanging; Arttu Lesonen on guitar and Mirko Lehtinen on bass are no more wallflowers than Elbanna. The cringeworthily titled ‘Piss Out My Ass’ (yes, really. I bet the guys had an almighty laugh about this one in their rehearsal room) closes the set and as a fitting example of tonight’s frantic performance, drummer Ossi Paananen does an almighty stagedive, later on saying that it was the first time he had ever done it.

It’s refreshing to see a Metal band with a fun, youthful vigour about them and long may it last. Thrash Metal fans should keep an eye on these young Finnish beastlets, as there is potential here to give rise to something more than just playing fast and loud with excellent technical ability.

Lost Society’s second album, ‘Terror Hungry’, will be released on 4th April on Nuclear Blast Records. The band are currently touring Europe and a tour in Finland will take place in April and May, plus some festival appearances over the summer.